Friday, November 12, 2010

Show Me the Mommy - Hair Edition

Disclaimer: I can't believe I'm doing this...you have no idea how nervous it makes me to show my hair in its real state!!

The other day I was looking through various pictures of myself here, on Facebook, on email, etc. and I realized that I have very few photos of my hair in its "natural" state. Which is funny because I spend more time with my hair natural than straight, mostly due to how time-consuming it is to straighten my hair at home. I don't have a relaxer or any chemical alterations, when I want my hair straight it's just me, my blow dryer, a flatiron, a curling iron, and about 1.5 hours of my precious time. I do go the hairdresser every 3 months or so for a trim and she always blows it out and presses it and it looks fantastic...for a couple of days until I have to wash it and then it's back to the same old, same old. So I thought (why, I don't know) I'd show the little process it takes for me to do my hair. Okay, as I'm writing this it sounds dumber and dumber but I took the pictures so here goes!

Here is an example of how I WISH my hair always looked when it's curly. This photo was taken at Jr.'s first birthday party (I'm on the right). Notice how shiny and springy the curls look, which takes a good bit of effort and alot of product. The other thing I want you to notice about this pic is my twin sister's hair. It's subtle, but do you notice the difference in texture, how her curls aren't quite so tight? My hair used to be that exact same level of curliness...and then I got pregnant with Jr. I don't know what happened, but ever since then the curls have gotten a bit on the unruly side. My hairdresser even commented that my hair is alot harder to tame than it used to be, my blowouts with her take much longer than they did 2 years ago.

Let's call this the "Before" picture.

It's the way my curls usually look in real life, minus the extra effort and product, after a long day at work. It's not any shorter than in the previous picture, the curls are just tighter. I seem to have no control over that. This is how my hair looks at least 50% of the time. Okay, honesty - since Jr. was born and I stopped straightening my hair as often, I'd guess more like 75%. Not necessarily this style but definitely this texture.

Step 1: De-tangle in preparation for straightening. This is why people with my hair texture absolutely, under no circumstances brush their hair during the day once the style is set (while it's wet). Once my hair dries, if I put a brush to it...instant Diana Ross.

Step 2: Divide and conquer. Sing a few bars of "I rock rough n' tough, with my afro puffs." Wish that I could wear my hair like this to work. Remember that I'm 33. Start straightening.

Halfway through. This is maybe 40 minutes into it. Why does it take so long? In order to get the kinks out I have to flatiron in teeny tiny sections, several times.

I can't believe the bags under my eyes in these photos. Stress is not a good look for me.

The finished product. Do you see why I make the effort? It looks great, right?

The problem is, obviously I can't wet or wash this or it will immediately revert back to its natural state. Therefore I have 5 days, TOPS, before it's so greasy and stringy from not washing that I get grossed out, and back to curly I go. And then usually it's another 2-3 weeks before I have the energy to straighten it again. I've thought about cutting it off, but I actually think it would end up being more work to keep it looking cute at a shorter length, especially while it's curly.

8 comments:

This is a great post. First of all I love your hair in its natural state. I think it looks really cute in the first two pictures and I don't think I have ever seen pictures of you with it natural like that. I think the only look I don't like is the Diana Ross style brush out. Your hair also looks beautiful when you straighten it too. I will never complain again about the 20-30 minutes it takes me to blow out my hair straight.

I must say that the blessing of chemo therapy was starting over with hair. I would have never had the nerve to cut it short-short. I really love it now. It has been over a year since it started to grow back and I cut it every couple of weeks. It is beginning to creep up on me and I really need to use products now on the curls or they have a mind of there own. Wish I didn't have to do that. I would love to be able to roll out of bed with "hair to go". I think that we need to appreciate the Diana look again because actually you look quite cute. But, that is not an easy comb out to maintain either, because it breaks and requires grease etc.

My hair got curlier with both pregnancies. Isn't that weird? but it seems like it grows out to mostly-straight again when I'm done with the pregnancy. So now it's straight for 5-ish inches, then frizzy. Hence the ponytail!

I love the pic of you and your sister! Your hair does look awesome straight, but what a pain!!!

OMG with the Diana hair. I should dig up some pics of my hair when it is long, I can rock the Diana hair. It is curly like yours. The reason I keep it short is because it doesn't curl up as much when it is short and I put a TON of product in it.

My issue is that I look HORRIBLE with straight hair. Truly terrible. Every hair dresser I've had has tried to straighten it and every one says "no way honey."

After my ear surgery, I couldn't wash my hair for 10 days. I took pictures at the end.I look homeless. For reals.

I love your hair in its natural state. As someone with hair naturally as straight as it comes I've never understood wanting straight hair. The grass is always greener, I guess. You look beautiful in all the pictures.

This is a great post. I knew it would take a while to straighten your hair, but 1.5 hours is a huge chunk of time. If I were you, I'd be going for the Diana Ross look because I'm so lazy. I love both the natural look and the straight look, and think it's cool that you can go between both.

I've had stylists straighten my hair a few times. It takes about 15 minutes and when it's done it looks horrible. It's amazing how much a little wave does for my really fine hair.

About Me

I am a thirtysomething wife to a fantastic husband (TH), mom to rambunctious baby genius J, and a veterinarian in a constant state of "practicing" medicine. We live in Las Vegas but our history is in Colorado, where we hope to live again someday.